SINGAPORE/BEIJING: London copper prices slid on Monday, on course to fall for the first time in five sessions, amid concerns over slowing economic growth in top industrial metals consumer China.
China's GDP growth cooled slightly in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, weighed down by weak investment and faltering consumer confidence as Washington piled on trade pressure, leaving 2018 growth at 6.6 percent, the weakest in 28 years.
"The Chinese GDP data is key driver in the market today although it is not that bad," said Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong. "U.S.-China trade talks are getting important (and) that will impact the sentiment."
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal
Exchange had dropped 0.4 percent to $6,028.50 a tonne by 0736 GMT. It had hit its highest since Dec. 28 on Friday on signs the trade dispute between the United States and China could be easing.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.4 percent at 47,800 yuan ($7,042.56) a tonne, notching the fourth straight session of gains and posting its highest close since Dec. 28.
* TRUMP: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday there has been progress toward a trade deal with China, but denied he was considering lifting tariffs on Chinese imports.
* MOLY: China Molybdenum Co Ltd has agreed to buy a holding company for $1.14 billion to increase its control in the Democratic Republic of Congo's massive Tenke copper-cobalt mine.
* OTHER METALS: Shanghai zinc rose as much as 2.7 percent to 21,750 yuan a tonne, its highest since June 15, before closing up 1.2 percent. Shanghai nickel hit a more than two-month high of 95,660 yuan a tonne before trimming gains to close 1.7 percent higher.
* ALUMINIUM: China's primary aluminium output defied low prices to rise for a second straight month to a record high in December as falling alumina costs boosted margins, while 2018 annual output was also a record.
* HOLIDAY MOOD: "The U.S. holiday has taken some impetus out of the markets but also the onshore traders are uninspired as we head into the (Chinese New Year), not feeling compelled to trade at current levels," Marex Spectron said in a note. Monday is the Martin Luther King Jr holiday in the United States.
MARKETS
* Asian markets kept their nerve on Monday as data showed the Chinese economy slowed at the end of last year, underlining the urgent need for more stimulus as Beijing wrestles with the United States over trade.
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